Midas Touch
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: Sam finds that there are some unexpected complications arising from his contact with the AllSpark at its destruction in Mission City.
1. Chapter 1

Midas Touch

Summary: Sam finds that there are some very awkward side-effects of his contact with the AllSpark.

Rating: T for language and suggestiveness

Pairings: Implied Sam/Mikaela/Bumblebee in chapter One if you blink, strongly suggested Sam/Mikaela/Bumblebee from Chapter 4. Some may see some of these interactions as 'slashy'.

Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro and Dreamworks/Paramount. I gain no monetary benefits from writing these, just a rich fantasy life, and rather delicious dreams.

Midas Touch

Chapter One

Leaky Vessel

Sam was feeling _really_ ill.

It had started out as a really nice day. Sam and Mikaela had gone out to town together, in Bumblebee, to look for a new sound system for Sam in the electrical store.

Sam's old sound system had packed up, and his father had given him some money towards getting him another one. He had picked up Michaela on the way, as someone to help him pick one up, and, of course, to give her another Bumblebee-fix.

Mikaela had become rather fond of Bumblebee, was so attached to him, indeed, that had Bumblebee been a human male, Sam might have been inclined to feel jealous. 

However, Bumblebee wasn't a human, but a car-well, he was a car when he wasn't in disguise. In his other form, Bumblebee was a sixteen-foot robot who hadn't even originated on the planet Earth, and would, if called upon, protect Sam - and probably Mikaela too- with his life!

Sam also knew that Bumblebee was fond of Mikaela. Having fought together the way they had in Mission city, a strong bond, of the sort that existed between two warriors who had fought together, had been forged between the two humans and the Cybertronian sworn to protect them.

As a consequence, Sam could not begrudge Bumblebee the affection that Mikaela lavished on him: on the contrary, Sam would often join in!

However, Sam currently didn't feel like doing anything more than lying down, or barfing, or wishing he was dead, and not necessarily in that order.

It had come on very suddenly, while they were looking around the electrical store. One moment he was feeling fine, and the next, he was shaking, sweating, feeling like he was about to lose his breakfast, and his vision was swimming. His heartbeat and breathing had speeded up, and he was feeling, to be frank "like shit" as he told Mikaela at the time. She had put her hand to his forehead, and he had relished the coolness of it, whereas she was concerned, for he was burning up with fever.

OOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo 

The Essence knew that the Vessel-the only Vessel its original Vessel was in physical contact with at the time that would survive it's touch-was inadequate to contain its energy. It knew that the old Vessel had to be destroyed to stop its power being used for evil purposes, and had had no other option.

It had not realised at the time that the energy it was constantly generating and trying to store in this new organic Vessel could destroy it. There only other available Vessel was another organic being like the current one, and it, too, would not be up to the task. It could hold off the energy, perhaps, long enough to get back to one of the essence's own children, but the idea of using one of it's own children in that way was abhorrent to it.

Besides, although the new Vessel had destroyed the old, it seemed a poor way to repay it for giving it a form to hide in by killing it.

The Essence did the only thing it could do, as the storage of its energy was causing the Vessel's systems to malfunction.

It discharged all the energy at once.

OOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo 

As Sam's knees abruptly buckled, Mikaela caught him, supporting his weight as best as she could. The thought ran through her head, 'Something is badly wrong, I have to get him to Bumblebee!' The staff of the electrical store they were in had also noticed, and were moving in their direction. Sam jerked his head up to look at Mikaela, and she could not help but gasp.

Sam's face was dripping with sweat and flushed with fever, but this was not the reason for Mikaela's gasp. It was the change in Sam's eyes that provoked that reaction. Sam's warm brown eyes were no longer brown, but a startling, almost luminous, electric blue. A deeper blue had replaced the normal black circle of his pupil, and even the whites of his eyes were a muted, brilliant blue, as if lit by neon signs from within.

All of a sudden, Sam's entire body gave a jerk, a single convulsion, his head and arms thrown out by the reaction, his back arched. His whole body became outlined by an electric blue aura. It didn't hurt Mikaela, where her skin contacted him, but it _did_ tingle oddly.

Then a crackling noise was heard, not loud but quite distinct. Multiple small blots of lightning sprung first from him to her, sending her hair flying up as she, too, was enveloped by the eerie blue aura, sending her hair flying out from her head wildly. Her whole body tingled from head to toe but still there as no pain. Warmth, yes, but not pain.

Then the blue lightnings erupted from both of them, to hit the equipment on display on the shelves and on the shop floor. From these items, the lightning also jumped, a chain reaction of lightnings jumping from the humans to the nearby machines, from the nearby machines to further machines, until the lightning had reached every mechanism in the shops, including the tills and the mobiles and wristwatches of everyone in the store. All this took about two seconds to occur.

Mikaela noticed that the moment that the discharge of energy began, that Sam's eyes seemed to start draining of the eerie blue. By the time it had finished, his eyes were back to their normal shade of brown.

However, by then, all Hell was breaking loose.


	2. Chapter 2

Midas Touch

Chapter Two

Every machine in the store shook, and at first the staff of the store, thinking it was an earthquake, tried to follow the earthquake drill, but they had barely taken a step forward when Mikaela, who had guessed, shook her head at them urgently. Sam was regaining his footing when every machine in the place transformed. Mobile phones blasted their way out of handbags and pockets, and most of the customers ran from the store screaming as tills, washing machines, DVD players, laptops, cookers and every other device in the place sprang to life, and began randomly firing at anything that moved.

Sam's wits had returned to him as swiftly as the feeling of not being well had left. He looked around in horror at the rampaging mechanisms. Briefly he recalled being in Mission City, when he dropped the AllSpark, and machines around had become animated. He'd only noticed this remotely, as he was running for his life from Decepticons at the time. He recalled thinking that the animated machines were Decepticons themselves. 

After Mission City, Optimus had told Sam that they were not Decepticons, but very frightened infants, the red optics a result of the AllSpark reacting to the Decepticon presence by disguising its latest creations as the same, in an attempt to protect them. Small, undisciplined Cybertronians, he explained, born into a hostile world, would not cower like a human child, but were born able to defend themselves, and thus would defend themselves against any perceived threat.

Sam realised that, except for the fact that there was no war going on outside, this was the same situation. The infant Cybertronians were reacting to a strange and frightening environment with strange and frightening creatures around them, who could be foes, and were trying to defend themselves. He reacted instinctively, as he might have done to a bunch of _human_ toddlers running amok.

"STOP!" he cried, but his human cry was followed by a weird assortment of clicks and squeeps he hardly believed was coming out of his own mouth.

Every optic-and this time, he noticed, there was an equal number of red and blue ones-turned to look at him, and the shooting stopped.

Sam put his hands out in a gesture that he hoped was universally calming, dropping to a crouch. The staff, stunned, watched. One looked ready to move forwards and speak, but Mikaela shook her head at them. 

"Don't." she whispered. "Any movement or noise could spook them again. Sam seems to know what he's doing, don't disturb things." 

A squeal of tires outside brought every eye and optic to bear on the door to the store. With a fine disregard for the rules of the mall, Bumblebee had screeched to a halt outside the store. As the machines moved towards the doors of the store, one of the store assistants spoke.

"Hey, where are they going?" he asked.

Bumblebee's driver's door opened at that moment, and to Sam and Mikaela's shock, an all-too familiar, tall, slender, dark suited figure stepped out.

It was ex S-7 Agent Simmons.

"Don't worry, gentlemen, the Government will reimburse the store for every piece of machinery that was here during this…incident." he said, and Sam relaxed. The voice was a fair imitation of the real thing for someone who had never heard Simmons speak, but Sam, who had heard the real thing, recognised it for the imitation it was. Sam realised that Bumblebee was taking the situation in hand in the best way he could in such a public place, and was using a holoform of Simmons.

'Simmons' flashed his S-7 badge at the store assistants, and said "Sector Seven gentlemen, you've never heard of it and never will. I do not think that I need to impress upon you the need to not talk about this incident to anyone. As a matter of National Security, this incident never happened. Instead, you will close the store, citing a power surge as the reason, and lead all the new life forms out through the delivery entrance-I have transportation arranged. They, and you, will not be harmed. You should also know that _they_ will not harm _you_." From this, Sam surmised that Bumblebee had given all the youngsters enough data to allay their fears. "Close the store, gentlemen, and bring the little ones out as I suggested." suggested 'Simmons.' Sam, Mikaela, accompany them, I will meet you out there." 'Simmons' stepped back over to and got in Bumblebee, and then Bumblebee carefully exited the mall the same way he had come.

"Okay? I think we should do as he says." said the stunned store manager. "You lead them, kid, they seem to trust you."

The little machines allowed themselves to be herded to the back of the shop, by the other humans as well as Sam, and they seemed less scared, confirming Sam's idea that Bumblebee had databurst them the information that these humans were safe. Some of them were even tentatively touching the skin and clothing of the humans in evident curiosity.

Bumblebee and 'Simmons' were waiting for them by the time they got them outside, and Sam breathed a further sigh of relief when the blue and red Peterbilt truck, towing a big container, and followed by a green/yellow Search and Rescue vehicle, pulled in. He knew that the Autobots would look after these AllSpark babies.

'Simmons', after once again telling the shop workers not to talk about the incident, said "Sam, Mikaela, I must ask you to come back with me for a debriefing."

Sam sighed quietly in relief. He knew that it would be Bumblebee, Optimus, and hopefully Ratchet, who would debrief them, but perhaps, then, they could get some answers.

As Optimus' holoform made sure all of the AllSpark babies were in his trailer (except for the laptops and smaller, which Ratchet was transporting) and carefully locked it, Sam and Mikaela got into Bumblebee's back seats.


	3. Chapter 3

Midas Touch

ChapterThree

Sam and Mikaela told Optimus, Ratchet, and Bumblebee what had happened on the way back to the Autobot base. Once they had come to a more isolated spot where Bumblebee could stop, Bumblebee pulled in, turned off the hologram, and allowed Sam and Mikaela to get back in the front seats, and then has swiftly caught back up with Optimus and Ratchet. Once that had been done, the Autobots had opened a three-way communications bridge between the three vehicles so the three adult Cybertronians and two adolescent humans could all converse.

When they got into base, Optuius and Ratchet herded all the AllSpark babies over to a startled Ironhide.

"What am I meant to do with these?" asked the astonished Weapons Specialist.

"Look after them and keep them occupied until I've finished looking over Sam. Get Mirage and Hound to help, I'm sure a disappearing mech and a display of holographic excellence will keep them out of trouble." said Ratchet. "They have enough data to understand simple data burst and verbal commands."

"Okay, come with me in an orderly fashion, no trampling each other, you'll all get to see." said Ironhide, and went off, his entourage following. As Mirage and Hound, who had obviously been summoned by data burst, Sam was suddenly reminded of a school trip out. He wondered if Ironhide would get them to get into groups of two and hold tight to each other's manipulatory appendages. Ratchet beckoned Sam and Mikaela in as he walked into the med bay.

Mikaela was scanned first, and Ratchet pronounced her healthy, with a swiftly-dissipating residue of AllSpark energy. Then he lifted Sam gently up to his operating table and performed a deeper-level energy scan, as well as a general health scan on him.

"There are low levels of AllSpark energy in your body, Sam, but not enough to cause the situation we found at the store upon arrival. I can only assume that the likelihood of it happening again any time in the next two to three months is remote. After all, it has taken until now for this to take effect, and it is now one hundred and twenty-seven days after the events of Mission City. If you are lucky, this will be a one-off effect, a last discharge of the AllSpark energy that somehow became stored in your body. that will never happen again, but in case it is not, I now have approximately four of your months to work on a collection device."

"Hey, hey, you mean this could happen _again_?" Sam asked.

"I am hoping _not_, Sam, I am hoping that some of its energy passed to you, and has discharged itself as a delayed reaction, and that that is the last effect you will suffer." Ratchet explained. "I am assuming that your fragile body could not contain what is, after all, a very powerful energy. That would explain why it made you feel ill. However, there is a possibility that, as the AllSpark was a self-generating energy source, some energy, if it is still left, could build up to create a similar effect. However, it took four months to build up to that level that time, why should it build up any faster this time? Four months should be long enough for me to work out some plans for a device you can use to drain off the energy, should it become necessary. " Sam sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Ratchet." he said.

"In the meantime, Sam, to keep an optic on what, if any, permanent effects such unprecedented contact with the AllSpark as you had may have had on your body, I want to check up on you once a lunar month. Report to me here in twenty-eight Earth days. However, if you feel ill again sooner, or get any more unexpected effects, Bumblebee is to bring you to me the moment any such effects are noticed." Bumblebee, who was in the room, nodded as Ratchet turned to look at him.

"Yes, Sir." said Sam, reflecting that not only must he be the only human in the USA-no, the world-to have an alien medic as well as a human one, but this medic charged no fees for his services. Like all medics, however, Ratchet insisted that his patients follow orders.

As he and Bumblebee were dismissed, he saw Ironhide bringing ten of the largest AllSpark babies-comprised of widescreen televisions and cookers-over. "Hound and Mirage are entertaining the others." he explained to Sam and Mikaela.

Recalling how many of them there had been, Sam reflected that Ratchet was in for a lot of work that day, to check them all out and make sure they were all healthy.

OOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

The Essence knew that the delay in releasing the energy build up had endangered its current Vessel's existence. This part of the Essence was merely the portion that extended into this plane, for the unlimited energy of the Essence could not be contained by any physical form, but even this was too much for the fragile Vessel within which it now existed. It could not allow such a dangerous build-up to occur again.

To protect its Vessel, it would have to discharge more often, or allow a constant slow leakage of the energy when it got to dangerous levels.


	4. Chapter 4

Midas Touch

Chapter Four

It was a week later that it happened, and there was absolutely no warning. It started off as a perfectly normal Saturday evening.

Sam and Mikaela had been out in Bumblebee that day, enjoying a drive about, and a stop at the Lookout to stretch their legs and talk a few things over. They had been discussing where their friendship had been, where it currently was, and where it was going to head. As it was turning into something more between the three of them, they had felt the need to discuss it frankly and honestly. It was a good idea, for they had now all been able to be honest with each other, and from the discussion had emerged a decision that felt right for all three: a decision to move further on, but not too far or fast for any of them.

They dropped Mikaela off at her Mom's house, and then Bumblebee drove Sam home, playing a cheerful and upbeat tune on his radio. Sam got out, and gave Bumblebee a sweeping, loving stroke down his hood, and as he went past his father's green Porsche, gave its hood a light stroke, thinking how much he'd coveted one of these cars and had ended up with Bumblebee-although, of course, now he wouldn't trade Bumblebee in for a Porsche, or even a whole _fleet_ of them. Who needed a Porsche when not only could your Chevy Camaro update itself to the latest model in a few seconds, but was, to boot, an alien who was also your best friend, and one of two significant others?

Sam didn't notice the tingle that ran down his arm as he slid his fingers along the Porsche's hood, so preoccupied was he with thinking about the conversation that he, Bumblebee, and Mikaela had had at the Lookout. Even if he had noticed it, he would not have thought it anything worthy of note, and certainly would not have known what it would presage.

As Sam went inside, it was Bumblebee who noticed the Porsche shudder, but even _he_ did not understand what was going on, at least not until the Porsche unexpectedly shifted, and unfolded into a (to Bumblebee's shocked optics) very attractive, but confused, uncertain, and scared, femme bot.

Sam, in the meantime, was unaware of the happenings outside, his mind on only one thing: filling his stomach. He walked through into the kitchen. His parents were out, visiting some almost-neighbours a few doors up, a visit they had been putting off for weeks and could not now get out of.

Sam's mother had put his food on a plate and covered it with film wrap: all Sam needed to do was put it in the microwave oven. He put it in, and decided to put some toast on as well, for if there was one thing Sam liked food wise, it was hot buttered toast. Grabbing two slices of bread from the bread basket. He dropped them in the toaster's slots, neither noticing the microwave behind him transforming, nor the toaster give a shake as his fingers lifted off the lever that lowered the bread and activated the toaster's elements.

It was only as he turned back to the microwave, as it 'pinged' at him urgently, that he noticed what had happened to it.

"Oh shit. Oh SHIT!" he said, as he heard the sound of the toaster transforming, and turned in time to see it tilt forward, and fire the bread at him. He ducked.

"SHIT!" he swore, dodging to one side as the microwave, feeling threatened, threw its door open and spun the plateful of food out, which hit the wall with a crash, as the plate shattered and dropped to the floor in a squidgey mess.

He put his hands out, one towards each terrified appliance. "STOP!" he cried, but his words were followed by the same sort of odd clicks and purrs he'd somehow produced at the electrical store. However, it had the desired effect: both the microwave (red optics) and the toaster (blue optics) turned to look directly at him, and, thankfully, did not try to fire anything at him.

"Shit." he muttered again. How was he going to explain this to his Mom? First things first: for some reason, these two new AllSpark babies seemed to trust him. He beckoned to them, held out his arms, and opened his mouth to say something to reassure them that he'd take them to people who could look after them, but instead, all that came out was some more of those odd clicks and whirrs.

The microwave responded first, by leaping into Sam's arms. It clicked, and somehow Sam knew that it was content and, although still not totally at ease, it was no longer so scared. The toaster also leaped to him, managing to scramble up his arm and perch on his shoulder, holding on with skinny but long arms.

Shaking his head in confusion - and hoping to get a drink soon so he could ease the ache in his throat that the odd noises had caused - Sam headed out. As he exited, only then did Sam notice what had happened to his Dad's car.

Bumblebee was holding out a hand towards the green femme, beckoning gently, making encouraging clicks to soothe her. She took a step forward, put her hand in Bumblebee's. Bumblebee reached his other hand slowly over to pat hers, and made more noises of reassurance.

"_Crap!" _said Sam. Explaining the toaster and microwave to his mother would be easy compared to explaining to his Dad what had happened to his car. Bumblebee patted the femme bot's hand a few more times, and then turned his head to look at Sam, gesturing his way and making some more strangely harmonious-sounding noises. The femme bot looked his way, and even Sam could see that as her blue gaze settled on him, it was anxious and wary. Her other hand reached out to grasp the forearm connected to the hand Bumblebee was using to clasp her other hand.

"Sam, we have to take her to the Base." Bumblebee said, his optic lenses rapidly expanding and contracting in a fashion that Sam knew was indicative in an Autobot of distress. "You _know_ the Autobot view on freedom, and she is no exception. She must be given the choice of whether she wants to stay with your father and be his car or not. She was a Sparkless, non-sentient drone when he first got her, but now that has changed, so must your perceptions, and your father's perceptions of her."

Bumblebee reached his hand back over to the femme, stroking her hand, for she was shifting her weight from one leg to another, that left Sam himself in no doubt that she was agitated.

"She may choose to stay with your father, but at the moment, she is _scared_. She does understand, in her own, currently limited way, the concept of slavery, and it terrifies her. Would you have her believe that she has no choice, that she must be a slave to your father's wishes?" Bumblebee asked, as he switched his attention between Sam and the increasingly restive femme.

"No, of _course_ not!" Sam said, honestly and fervently. "It's gonna cause me a major headache, but of _course_ she must be allowed to choose her own destiny." He nodded to the two appliances snuggled trustingly in his arms and on his shoulder. "Just like these two. Can we get to Ratchet now, though, before we attract more attention than we need to?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam, and I'll ask Optimus if he can clear it with the government to reimburse your father so he can get another drone car to drive-although if I were he, I'd wait till you get this problem sorted out, or it'll just happen again." He patted the femme's hand comfortingly. "It's all right, you'll get to choose to do what you want, just like anyone else." he reassured her. His optics dimmed as he databurst something to her. She silently folded back down into her Porsche form again, and looked no different to before, even though Sam squinted like mad to see any sign of a change. Even her logo was still that of a Porsche. Sam guessed that she either didn't know about the factions, or hadn't decided to choose a side yet, or maybe just wanted to be neutral.

Sam watched as Bumblebee too folded back down into Camaro form, and once he was done, Sam moved over, placing the two other AllSpark babies in the back, and then taking his customary place in Bumblebee's driver's seat.

Bumblebee pulled out of the drive, and the Porsche, as Bumblebee's databurst had advised it to, followed on behind.


	5. Chapter 5

Midas Touch.

Chapter Five.

On the way, the Porsche scanned some humans, and, with Bumblebee's advice, managed to composite an acceptable holoform to be her 'driver.' Sam had received a phone call from his father while this was happening, raging about having his Porsche stolen off his own drive while out with the almost-neighbours. Sam had had to tell his Dad the truth to stop him reporting it as stolen. Once Sam had explained, there was a long silence at the end of the line, so long that Sam thought his phone had developed a fault, before his father spoke again, in a rather stunned voice.

"So, my car is actually a woman and has stolen herself? Okay, that's okay, but I'd still like to meet it - that is, her - if that's okay by her and your alien friend Optimus. If so, could Bumblebee be sent to pick me up and bring me to her so I can talk to her?" Ron sighed. "I sound like I've gone as mad as my grandfather." he said.

"Oh, C'mon Dad, I've told you what happened to great-grandfather." Sam said. "He was as sane as you or I."

"Sometimes I wonder about that, too." said Ron. Sam smiled in spite of himself.

"No, not mad, Dad, but it looks like meeting giant alien robots has become a sort of family tradition. Maybe it's something in the Witwicky genes."

"It's something in something of ours, but I'll be darned if I know what." Ron said. "Don't worry about the toaster or microwave either, Sam, I'll explain things to your mother and buy her the next models up, that'll keep her happy. Just make sure you're all right, Ok? See you later, Sam."

"Yeah, sure thing, Dad." Sam said. "I'll tell the Porsche you were asking after her."

""You do that, Sam, and tell her that she must do what _she_ feels is right for _her_, not what she thinks everyone _expects_ her to do. She's welcome to come back if she _wants_, in fact I'd feel honoured if she _did_, but that doesn't mean she _has_ to." Ron said as he rang off.

All things considered, Sam thought, his Dad had taken it much better than he thought he would. Perhaps it was the shock.

On the other hand, Sam began to wonder if his father was now seeing the Porsche as the daughter he'd always wanted, but Judy had been advised never to have. First, Judy had had to have one of her fallopian tubes removed when her first pregnancy had turned out to be ectopic, and then Judy's narrow hips had almost been the death of both her and Sam, only an emergency C-section had saved them, but she had been advised that between her narrow hips and the scarring from the emergency Caesarean, that to have another child would be inadvisable.

Even that had not stopped them trying, but later investigation, when Judy had failed to get pregnant again, had revealed that her remaining tube had become blocked, probably due to an infection that was so mild that Judy had not even realised she'd been unwell. After some discussion, Judy and Ron had decided against expensive in-vitro treatment that might not even work, and concentrate on the healthy son they had rather than yearn after something that might not ever be.

Sam himself had never regretted not having an annoying younger sibling, but he knew that both his Mom and Dad would have loved another child, even another boy although a girl would have made them even happier. That was what Mojo was all about, he was Ron and Judy's surrogate child, although when Sam's mother insisted on giving Mojo 'bling', he wished they'd chosen a girl dog instead of a boy one.

Bumblebee and the Porsche reached the Autobot base, and Bumblebee had obviously told Optimus and Ratchet that they were coming, because they were there in the courtyard to greet them. Sam climbed out of Bumblebee, picking up the toaster and microwave and backing off, as Bumblebee transformed. Bumblebee must have told the Porsche she could, because she started hers a few seconds after Bumblebee began his. Sam could see that his two small charges were part in awe and part in fear of Optimus and Ratchet.

Optimus, too had realized, and dropped to a crouch so as not to loom over them, spreading his hands to show he had no weapons powered up. He then spoke, but Sam saw the telltale dimming of his optics that suggested that he was databursting as well, to welcome them to the base.

"Welcome to the Autobot base. I am Optimus Prime, and the other over there is designated Ratchet. You will be looked after with us. You are quite safe here. We are all your friends." Optimus told them.

Ratchet carried out a discreet scan of the three newcomers as Optimus gave his welcome. As Optimus stood again, Sam put down the toaster and microwave.

"Sam, could you come with the other three to the medical bay for a check-over please?" Ratchet asked him.

"Sure Ratchet, but can I have a word with Optimus first?" Sam asked. Ratchet nodded, and Optimus crouched again to hear what Sam had to say.

"Dad has said that the Porsche must make her own decisions about what to do with her life, but has requested to be allowed to talk to her." Sam said. "If so, he asked if you can send Bumblebee to bring him here?"

Optimus nodded.

"I see no harm in letting them talk. It may do some good." Optimus said. He looked at Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee, would you bring Sam's father, Ronald Archibald Witwicky, here to the Base to speak to the new femme?"

"Yes, of course." Bumblebee said. He transformed back into car form, and purred out of the Base.

Ratchet beckoned, and started towards the Base main building entrance. Sam saw the three watching him, beckoned to them, and then turned to follow Ratchet. A quick check confirmed that the three were following.

Once in the medical bay, Ratchet carefully and thoroughly scanned the new AllSpark babies, and then gave them the data he felt they needed - about Cybertron and the Cybertronian race, the war, the two main factions, the planet Earth, the English language, and information about humans – via a direct hookup, mass transferring data from his processors to theirs. Then he called Mirage to look after them and give them a Base orientation tour.

As Sam watched their retreating backs, Ratchet said "The femme will be taken to your father when he arrives. For now, she's in good hands. Now, Sam, I need to scan you again, because this should _not_ be happening."

Ratchet carefully lifted Sam onto his table, and scanned him as he had a week ago. His mobile brow plates rose in surprise.

"The levels of AllSpark energy in your body are higher than they were last week, but certainly not high enough to cause the sort of discharge you experienced last week." Ratchet said. "I haven't had time to build the collection units, only to design them. This should _not_ be happening. Wait there." He went away, only to return with a slim laptop carefully pinched between his index finger and thumb: Sam recognized it as one of the latest models, one of those with lots of battery and processor power, but slim and light and easy to carry. Ratchet saw Sam looking at it.

"The Military gave it to me to help type up notes, not stopping to realize that just one my fingertips is capable of pressing all the keys at once. I could use my holoform, but what's the point as my processors store everything I see and hear, and the desktop computer they have donated converts spoken word into text." He put it down next to Sam.

"No, don't touch it till I say 'go,' I want to scan you as you touch it." He said, as Sam reached out towards it. Then he nodded. "Okay, Sam, go!" he said.

Sam reached down, placing the flat of his hand on the top of the laptop. He felt tingling, and felt the laptop tremble beneath his touch, and then, as he pulled his hand back, the laptop sprang into robot form, looking up at him with scared-looking blue optics. He opened his mouth, wanting to tell it not to be frightened, that no-one here would hurt it, but what came out sounded more like a dial-up connection tone than a human voice, and Sam's throat felt raw afterwards. However, it seemed to have the desired effect, as the laptop stopped looking scared, sidled over to Sam, and began nuzzling against his leg.

Ratchet's optics widened.

"Human throats are not designed to make those sounds, but you managed it well, and under the circumstances, your accent is very good." Ratchet said, staring at Sam in disbelief. "It's an archaic version, not one that Bumblebee would know, so I don't think you've been leaning Ancient Cybertronian off him on the sly, and you've _certainly_ not been leaning it from me. However, as a student of the spoken and written ancient language, I can confirm that that is exactly what you just spoke. Wait here, Sam." Ratchet told him, going out and returning a few minutes later with a small tray balanced on his hand: on it were two white pills and a glass of what appeared to be water. He lowered it to Sam's level.

"Take the pills, they are pain pills. The human throat, as I just pointed out, is not designed to speak any form of Cybertronian, ancient or otherwise. My scans indicate that your throat lining is inflamed: these will help."

"It feels inflamed, I hope they help." Sam croaked. He put the pills in his mouth and knocked them back with the water in one gulp, and pulled a face: they were certainly not Tylenol, both they and the water had a funny taste. However, whatever Ratchet had put in the water immediately seemed to help: a soothing coolness eased the raw feeling of his throat.

"Thanks, Ratchet, whatever that was, it helped." He said.

"My tests showed no risk of unwanted interactions of the anesthetic solution and the pain pills." Said Ratchet. "The solution should ease the pain in your throat long enough for the pain pills to begin working. They are something I made for human use." He turned back to Sam, and the laptop, which was still nuzzling his leg.

"Sam, my scans showed that as you touched the laptop, there was a discharge of what appears to be AllSpark energy, from your skin to it, which is what brought it to life. It is more controlled than the incident that occurred last week, but it does look as if you will be constantly discharging to a certain extent, and looks like becoming an ongoing incident. I must get working on making the collection devices." He grumbled. "For once, I wish Wheeljack was here."

"What, to blow them up for you? You'd be chasing him out of the medical bay, waving the biggest wrench you could find, within a few hours!" Bumblebee said as he walked in.

"Sam." He said, ignoring Ratchet's scowl as he walked over. "Your father has began talking to his former car, and I think they're gonna get on really well." He looked down at the laptop by Sam's feet. "Who's that, Sam?"

"Newest new arrival. I'd like to call it Lapbot, if that's okay?" Sam said, asking Ratchet. "Once you've given it the all-clear and taught it what it needs to know, could I take it home? It seems to have taken a liking to me, and Bumblebee would have someone to talk to when I go to sleep, and he could help with its education." He looked up at Ratchet with wide pleading brown eyes. "Please?"

"Yes to both, on condition that it _wants_ to." Ratchet said. "However, Sam, I would prefer it if you stayed on Base while I build the collection units, so we are close if anything else untoward happens, and you won't draw undue human attention if incidents happen here. Once I build you effective energy collection cells, you can use them to discharge morning and night, and otherwise lead a normal life."

Sam was cuddling one of Bumblebee's fingers, trying not to show how frightened this whole thing was making him, Bumblebee cupped his other hand over Sam's shoulders and back, trying to comfort his frightened human charge. Then Sam gasped.

Ratchet gasped too: he was still scanning Sam when the scan registered a sudden upswing in the amount of AllSpark energy being generated in the human boy's fragile body.


	6. Chapter 6

Midas Touch

Midas Touch

Chapter Six

_The Essence felt, as it had every day since transferring into its organic Vessel, the presence of one of its children nearby, but never quite like this. The prolonged contact of this Vessel against the hands of its child abruptly reminded it of a similar situation, the last time its original Vessel had been held by the__ hands of this particular child, who was one of the special ones, a Sensitive._

_It was aware that its current Vessel was scared, and without irreversible reconfiguration, was incapable of direct communication with the Essence. The essence was reluctant to reconfigure the Vessel, for it knew the Vessel was sentient, and to reconfigure without permission would be, to the Essence, wrong. However, it wished to reassure its Vessel, and tell it how to channel and direct the energy, and offer what aid it could. However, their consciousnesses were incompatible where communication was concerned. It could no more communicate in the way it wished to with its Vessel than it could with one of its multitude of non-Sensitive children._

_However, now the current Vessel was in direct close contact with a Sensitive in its primary form, it could push to the fore of the Vessel's consciousness, contact the Sensitive, explain things to him, and then the Sensitive could explain things to the Vessel. _

_Of course, to keep containing the increased energy this would produce could damage the Vessel, so the Essence would have to allow a continual discharge to take place, but the Essence was certain that this would not be a problem. It knew its child could cope with such a discharge with no discomfort._

_The Essence pushed to the fore._

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

As Sam's knees gave way and his eyelids fluttered closed, it was instinctive for Bumblebee to catch his human charge and cradle him gently in both his hands. Ratchet was already heading over, concern written all over his face plates, when Sam's skin took on an unearthly blue glow.

Bumblebee recognised, knew from earlier contact, the touch of this glow, as it spread from Sam to enclose them both, washing over them in gentle waves. As Bumblebee was expecting, this was AllSpark energy.

As he was _not_ expecting, within the energy was a pulse of life, of consciousness, and an insistent urge. _**Communicate. Communicate. Speak with me. Respond.**_

To this request, Bumblebee was more than happy to comply. It wanted a response. It would receive one.

Bumblebee bent his head down to look at his prone human friend. He was floppy and totally mobile in Bumblebee's hands. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his heart rate had speeded up, but Bumblebee knew that Sam must be within safe human limits, for Ratchet had stopped his abortive move forward. Were Sam in any danger, Ratchet would have let him know.

He stared down at Sam, who was, he now realised, so much more than the seventeen year old offspring of Judy and Ron Witwicky, so much more than the glasses-keeper he had been sent to guard just a few scant months ago.

Bending his head and lifting Sam closer to his face, he began to sing.

It was a similar sound – but conveying a very different message – to the song Bumblebee had crooned to the AllSpark in the Hoover Dam. That had been a request to transform itself into a smaller and more manageable form. This song was far more complicated, conveying three different messages.

Bumblebee was relaying a question, conveying reassurance, and making a Sparkfelt request all at once.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Ratchet watched in astonishment as Bumblebee became haloed by a blue glow that seemed to be emanating from Sam. He quickly scanned the boy's vital signs. He startled, and then scanned again. Sam's readings, although high for a resting human, were still within safe levels, but it was the enormous outpouring of AllSpark energy, apparently channelled through Sam, that Ratchet couldn't explain. This was _way_ beyond any of the predictions Ratchet had made earlier.

The warbling sound that started up made Ratchet look back up at Sam and Bumblebee: Bumblebee was singing, it seemed, to Sam. He was relieved, after carrying out another scan, that neither the human nor the Autobot scout seemed to be suffering any adverse effects from the waves of energy emanating from the boy.

Ratchet's optics widened as he recognised the sort of song Bumblebee was singing. He had a few times seen and heard Sensitives communicating with the AllSpark, back on Cybertron, in the peaceful, golden age before Megatron had gone after the AllSpark for his own ends, and Optimus had opposed him.

That necessary opposition, Ratchet recalled, had actually sent the war from grumblings and worries to full-blown combat. That had been the first time that the factions –'Autobot' and 'Decepticon' - had been created, and yet many thousands of years on, the war still continued, even though both Megatron and the AllSpark had gone. With the item of power gone, Ratchet had wondered why the Decepticons continued their fight.

Although non-Sensitive himself, Ratchet recognised the song for what it was. Bumblebee, he knew already, was one of the rare Sensitives, as was Optimus Prime himself. However, Ratchet had _never_ thought to hear Bumblebee at work in this way, communicating with the living consciousness, the intelligence, of the AllSpark, for he – they _all_ had – thought the consciousness destroyed when Sam thrust the Cube into Megatron's own Spark. It seemed that although the AllSpark's _physical _form had been destroyed, the energy and intelligence had _not._

This was no residual energy, left over as a physical reverberation of the Cube's destruction, no isolated pool that would dribble out and dry up over a few years. No, the AllSpark's own consciousness was there, and Bumblebee was communicating with it as generations of Sensitives had done over millions of years on Cybertron, long before the seeds of the conflict had been sown.

No, Ratchet realised, the intelligence had not been destroyed, it had merely fled into a nearby, convenient vessel as its old one had been destroyed. Perhaps, he thought, they should count themselves lucky that the AllSpark had not transferred the other way and kept Megatron's body and Spark (and thus Megatron himself) alive. Ratchet shuddered at the thought: Megatron, with the AllSpark's power as part of himself, would have been unstoppable and insatiable.

Ratchet stared as he realised that soft, fragile, young – so _young_ by Cybertronian standards – Sam was now, effectively the AllSpark. He was so _young!_ By contrast, the Cube itself was more than just old, it was _ancient_. It had been forced to evacuate an ancient but solid and substantial form, and flee into this fragile and very young new one.

Sam as the AllSpark was a very large potential problem, for Sam had his own consciousness. Two consciousnesses – one very powerful – in one body: was that possible, and _healthy_, for both of them, in the long-term?

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

_The Essence listened as the Sensitive spoke to it, and it explained things to the Sensitive. The Sensitive promised to impart the information it had received to the Vessel and asked the Essence to subside, promising to call to it again to tell it the Vessel's response._

_The Essence agreed, and allowed the Vessel's own consciousness to come to the forefront again._

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Sam was abruptly back in the world, lying flaccidly in his Autobot friend's hands. He shook his head muzzily: had he passed out? He didn't recall much, mainly warmth, and…singing? Then Bumblebee spoke to him.

"Sam, I have a message for you from the AllSpark's Essence that is currently sharing your body: it has asked you if it may stay. It promises that if you agree, it will help you, and tell you, through me, how to control, direct, and contain the energy it possesses. It will also, again with your permission, make very subtle but significant changes to your body so you can do this better." Bumblebee told Sam. Sam looked up, his attention totally now on Bumblebee, for his Autobot friend was pinning him with a serious gaze, and his voice was trying to convey to him the gravity of the situation, which was obviously greater than Sam realised.

"It is having to be very trusting of you Sam, you are only the second non-Sensitive it has ever interfaced with, and its total interface with and transference to you was a matter of survival." Bumblebee explained. "Given another choice, it would never have transferred itself to you, for the first non-Sensitive to interface with it betrayed its trust and tried to force it to do something it did not want to."

"Hang on, Bumblebee, you've lost me here." Sam said. "What's a Sensitive, what's a non-Sensitive, and who was this 'other' that betrayed it so badly that it only trusts Sensitives, and why?" Sam asked.

"A Sensitive, Sam, is one such as I who can communicate with the Essence, or consciousness, if you prefer, of the AllSpark. Optimus is a Sensitive, too, it is one of the reasons he was a Leader. A non-Sensitive is somebody who cannot communicate with the AllSpark's consciousness directly, although a Sensitive can communicate with the AllSpark on a non-Sensitive's behalf. You are a non-Sensitive, and so is Ratchet. Two different species, and born millennia and light-years apart, but the fact remains: neither of you can communicate with the AllSpark's intelligence directly." He sighed. "To answer your last two questions, will take time and a history lesson." He told Sam.

Sam gestured.

"Unless you have something better to do, now is as good a time as any."

Bumblebee nodded, and gestured for Sam to sit back on Ratchet's table. Sam did.

"On Cybertron, there used to be two co-overseers of the planet. There was the Leader, who dealt with civilian matters, diplomacy, and the care of the AllSpark, and other such seemingly 'domestic' matters. The other was the Lord – or Lady, there was no gender bias - High Protector, who was mainly in charge of many military matters and planetary security, although they each had control over different divisions of the military-there was that overlap." Bumblebee explained.

"Okay." Said Sam, wondering just where this was going. Bumblebee continued.

"The Lord High Protector had control over the Air Division, and the Naval and Space-going, the Leader over the Land Division, plus the civilian air, naval, land and sea traffic." Bumblebee continued. "It used to be a rule that both the Lord High Protector and the Leader had to be Sensitives. Only a Sensitive can handle the Matrix of Leadership properly, so that necessity was understood, but people began wondering why the Lord High Protector, who had no such artefact to worry about, had to be Sensitive as well. Discontent grew, people accused the Sensitives of having all the best jobs, because Sensitives were also the AllSpark Caretakers, and the Translators for non-Sensitives, and that gave them a _lot _of potential power. Not that any of them would have _dreamed_ of subverting it, for reasons that will be explained in a minute." Bumblebee sighed.

"In the end, that law was changed, and we got our first non-Sensitive Lord High Protector. Oh, he was good at his job, and yes, Cybertron prospered under the Sensitive leader and the non-Sensitive Lord High Protector. This Lord High Protector used Sensitive intermediaries when working for Cybertron. I was one of them, one of his translators and relays, that's how he could still carry out his job." Bumblebee said. "However, we later found out that the Lord High Protector had his own scientists experimenting with building a device into his plating that would allow him to interface with the AllSpark enough to take what he wanted from it and use its power, but not to communicate with it properly." Bumblebee briefly shuttered his optics, then continued.

"The AllSpark is sentient, intelligent, conscious, Sam, and has definite opinions on what its power should and should not be used for. If a Sensitive tried to use it for a purpose it did not wish, the Essence would scream, and no Sensitive can inflict that sort of mental anguish on the AllSpark. The Sensitive would hear it, and would become upset. The moment the Essence would cry, a Sensitive would back off. The worse the idea or plan was to the Essence, the louder it would cry. You see, that was why the Lord High Protector and the Leader were both supposed to be Sensitives, because they both had unlimited access to the AllSpark." Bumblebee said. His voice was raw with remembered pain.

Sam thought he could see where this was going now, but simply said "Carry on."

"This Lord High Protector went to the AllSpark, and brutally tried to subvert its power to his own twisted ends. It didn't really mind so much giving him an alt-form, fashioned from his own imagination, but whatever he tried to do next was so anathema to it that its scream was so loud, it woke every Sensitive on the planet. He fled from it, tried to cover his tracks and fashion an alibi, hoping to come back and try again, but it told several of us what had happened, and we had to go to the Leader about it. He had the AllSpark first of all hidden in a different location, but the Lord High Protector's contact with the AllSpark meant that he could detect its presence, even when its power was damped down. Eventually, the Leader had to launch the AllSpark into space, something he did at its own request." Bumblebee said.

"The Leader you mentioned was Optimus, right, and the Lord High Protector you're talking about – that was Megatron, wasn't it?" Sam asked. "_He_ betrayed the AllSpark, effectively he raped the Essence, or tried to, didn't he?" Sam saw Bumblebee's optics half-shutter in the way that meant he was accessing the human Internet. Then he opened them again, and nodded.

"Yes, Sam, and the Essence is worried that the technology Megatron utilised to access it may still be around. Starscream was one of the scientists who designed the interface device, and he probably built it into his own systems. The AllSpark needs to hide from the Decepticons, Sam, and who would suspect it in a _human?_ It wants to stay in you, Sam, but it wants your permission. Will you allow it, or will it need to transfer by some method elsewhere, to another Vessel?"

Sam blew out a breath.

"You said it can help me control its energy? That means, so everything I touch doesn't immediately come alive, right?"

"Yes, Sam, it promised to help you control, direct and contain the energy, and to augment your body in subtle ways – with your agreement - to help you do so." Bumblebee told him. Sam smiled.

"Then contact the Essence, buddy, and tell him that, pending deeper discussion on the subject, we have a deal."

Bumblebee lowered his face close to Sam, and began to sing.


	7. Chapter 7

Midas Touch

Midas Touch

Chapter Seven

"Sam, is your brain glitching or something?" Ratchet asked acerbically once Bumblebee had finished singing to the Essence within Sam.

"Wh-what?" Sam asked in a slightly dazed tone of voice, then, in a voice more like his usual one: "What do you mean, Ratchet? I'm fine."

"In case your memory is failing, I shall remind you that you have just made a deal with something so advanced and unknown that even Cybertronian Sensitives, who have worked with it as far as our records ever went, still know _very_ little about it. It's agenda may be very different to yours, yet you just agreed – albeit informally – that you will allow it to alter your body, when the way it was put was vague at best and potentially misleading at worst. If you were Cybertronian, I'd want to examine your processor coding for degradation!" Ratchet told Sam, training one of his fiercest scowls on the human.

"Now, hang on Ratchet, I _did_ tell it that we had a deal 'pending deeper discussion.' Sam said.

"I told it that as long as it let me explain each and any thing it wanted to do to Sam, and he then agreed, that we would discuss it." Bumblebee said." It understands that it can't do a thing until I have explained to Sam what the Essence plans to do to him, and he has given me a yes or no answer. For example…" and Bumblebee looked directly at Sam.

"Sam, the Essence said this whole thing would be quicker and easier if you were to be altered, in its words, 'to the extent that you would become one of it's Sensitive children. The required empathy is present, but needs augmentation.' By that, I believe it is offering to turn you into a Cybertronian." Bumblebee said.

"Hey, hey, hey, _wait_ a minute!" said Sam, raising both hands in front of him, fingers splayed. "Do we even know that that is _possible?"_

"_Legends_ say that it has happened." Ratchet stated. "Legend stated that Primus made both organic and inorganic life, but inevitably, conflict broke out between the two kinds of life. When it became obvious that the inorganic was thriving, and organic life was dying out, Primus offered a few select intelligent organic life-forms the chance to convert to inorganic forms. Not all accepted, but for those who did, legend stated that Primus 'had them remade and placed into inorganic bodies'." Ratchet said. "One of those I worked with when I was Prime's representative to the High Council of Ancients claimed to _be_ one of those select, but I never believed him, although he _did_ seem old enough at times – and I mean that some of his arguments sounded glitch-ridden - to make it believable." Ratchet snorted.

"Uh – I think I'll pass on that one, at least for now." Sam said. "I know this body, I'm comfy with it, and I want to stick with it. When I become old and infirm, I may reconsider, but for now, I'll stay as I am. Also, if I get remade, bang goes hiding in a human, because I won't _be_ human any more." Sam said. "When you talk to it again, ask it what the discreet changes it wants to make actually are."

After another speaking-session, Sam had his answers.

"The Essence has stated that none of the changes would be immediately obvious, and with some, only over a long period of time would the changes become apparent." Bumblebee explained, both to Sam and the listening medic.

"Well, that sounds okay so far, but what _are_ these changes?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam, make sure you know what you might be getting yourself into." Ratchet said. Bumblebee nodded, and spoke again.

"For example, Sam, it can ensure, just by being within you, that you do not fall ill due to pathogenic organisms or parasites. It can detect them, and assist your immune system in eliminating them. It can discreetly speed up the healing of any injuries you might sustain in day-to-day life, and could probably ensure you survive some things that might often kill other humans, such as a lightning strike. It can help your body self-repair, and excrete toxins far more efficiently, leading to an extended life-span. It cannot prolong your life indefinitely, but when the time comes, can, as you suggested, put you into a Cybertronian body when your own is no longer able to be maintained – and the process should be monitored, of course, by a medic such as Ratchet." Bumblebee said, nodding his head towards the medic. He turned to face Ratchet.

"It understands your concerns, Ratch, but it says that as Sam is now its Vessel, it would not want to do anything to compromise his safety and comfort. It has agreed that Sam can take as long as he feels he needs to, and ask as many people as he deems necessary, before coming back with an answer, and that it will accept his answer whatever it may be. It will even change whatever it is able to if he changes his mind later, although there are some changes that cannot be reversed, but it _will_ make it clear which ones these are before it initiates any that he has agreed to. For example, if Sam became a Cybertronian, he could not, if he changed his mind, go back to being organic. That is an irreversible change." Bumblebee explained.

"Okay, I guess I'm okay with that for the moment." Sam said. "As long as it does nothing noticeable and irreversible, and Ratch can keep an eye on it, I guess that's okay." He turned to the frowning Ratchet. "Look, I honestly don't think it'll hurt me, after all, I'm now its Vessel." he said. "It's the AllSpark Essence, it's _good_, beneficent, right?" he said.

"It's a force of unknown origin, of unknown limits of power, which has been of benefit to us, but may have it's own agenda that we don't know about, Sam. At the moment, for all _we_ know, it may be prepared to do _anything_ to survive." Ratchet said.

Sam sighed. "If that's the case, might it not be better to arrive at a compromise rather than risk forcing its hand? If it's as powerful as you suggest, then if it _wanted_ to, it could just take over my body and use me, without thought for me. However, it _is_ asking me, and it's communicating with me, asking for my input. At least this way, I get a say."

"I suppose so." said Ratchet. "I'm going to keep an optic on things though."

"You do that." said Sam. "Perhaps Bumblebee and I can ask it some questions that might give us an idea of how much power it has got."

"Okay." Ratchet said. "If you want me, I'll be finishing up on welding Jazz's body back together. I know I'll end up using him for spares, but I at least want to repair his body, even if he's not alive anymore. To not do so would seem to be a disservice."

Sam frowned as he walked away with Bumblebee. He began to think of some questions that he could ask the Essence to ascertain the limits – or otherwise – of its power.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

"It told you _what_?" Sam said, his eyes growing wide.

"Jazz's Spark is still in the Essence. There is a period of time where a Spark returns to the Essence from which it came before going to either the Pit or the Matrix." Bumblebee said. "It said it can take our own consciousnesses, if we want, to search for Jazz's Spark, and we might be able to use it to channel Jazz's Spark back into his mended body."

"I knew it was _powerful_, but to turn back death?" Sam said.

"Not quite, Sam, it's just fortunate that there is this interlude before the Spark departs even beyond the Essence's reach."

"So, it's offering us a chance to get Jazz back?" Sam asked. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"I don't think Ratchet would like it." Bumblebee said.

"Then let's not tell him." Sam said, snuggling down into Bumblebee's hands. "He'd only stop us, and this is too good a chance to miss."

"Sam, the Essence said it might be dangerous." Bumblebee said.

"I'm willing to risk it if you are, and if it means we have a chance to get Jazz back." Sam said. "No sacrifice, no victory. So, are we gonna try this, or not?" Sam asked his yellow friend.

Bumblebee blinked twice, than started to sing.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Ratchet finished welding together Jazz's body, and ran a critical optic over it. He was pleased to note that the welds didn't show. Jazz's body was as good as new. He sighed: if only they had the Spark to go in it. It was as if he were in shutdown, and that the right touch would wake the small silver 'bot, as if he was about to unshutter his optics and ask Ratchet where that slagger Megatron had gone.

He sighed. He had to pull himself out of his melancholy mood, and decided to see what Sam and Bumblebee had found out from the Essence. He was still uneasy about the symbiosis the Essence was suggesting to Sam, but Sam did have a point: at least it was _asking_, not just _taking_.

Ratchet knocked on the room he'd seen them heading for. He frowned when he got no response, knocked again to announce his presence, and then opened the door and went in.

He knew something was wrong the moment he saw the Autobot and boy at the far end of the room. Sam was curled up in Bumblebee's cupped hands, pale, breathing very shallowly and very slowly. Bumblebee had locked his joints, and his optics, although still lit, were very dim.

Ratchet immediately initiated a scan on both of them. Sam's heart rate as well as his breathing, had slowed right down, and it seemed the autonomic actions were just enough to keep his body alive. Although Sam had brain function, all of his brain waves were at minimum, except for the delta waves, the ones associated with sleep and dreaming. However, Sam was not asleep, or dreaming, as far as Ratchet could tell: even these were not operating at full strength, they seemed suppressed or diverted.

Ratchet searched for brain scan results similar to those that Sam was exhibiting, and was disturbed when his Internet search only turned up two matches: those of dying humans, or those who had seemed to die and had come back, a phenomenon sometimes described as 'near-death experiences.'

He checked Bumblebee, and the results were just as worrying: optics fixed and unmoving, Spark almost dormant, processor functions at a level that suggested imminent catastrophic function failure, but too stable to be that far gone. Nothing he could think of could account for this except, possibly, something the Essence had done.

Ratchet sat down and prepared to wait. Sam and Bumblebee's consciousnesses were quite clearly not with their bodies and processors, _that_ much was clear to Ratchet, although he had no clue as to where they _were_.

He would just have to hope that the Essence would bring them back safe and well.


	8. Chapter 8

Midas Touch

Midas Touch

Chapter Eight.

A/N **Bold type** is the thought/speech Bumblebee and Sam use to communicate with each other in the Essence. **_Bold italics_** is the Essence's comments to them.

The Essence was, to Sam's limited senses, both bright and dark, and everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

His consciousness had no eyes, but he could sense energy all around him, sense a current running through the environment he seemed to be in, and sense Sparks nearby. He found quite by accident that by wanting to, he could approach or move away from these Sparks.

_**You should allow yourself to drift. It is safer. **_came a thought/voice that Sam somehow knew was the Essence.

**You can communicate directly with me? **Sam 'thought'.

_**In**_** here **_**you can, plus your sensitive companion is with you, which makes it easier.**_the Essence told him.

**Sam? **said Bumblebee. **If we drift, we will hopefully be able to sense Jazz's Spark. **

**You think so? **Sam asked.

**He is not long dead. His Spark will be strong, but we must be careful.** Bumblebee told Sam.

Sam began to wonder what he didn't know, and began to worry. Why the emphasis on being careful?

**Careful? Why? **He asked.

**You said you were willing to take the risk, Sam. You were warned this could be dangerous.** Bumblebee said. **If you want to abort this, now is the time.**

**I didn't say I wanted to abort the attempt. **Sam thought angrily at Bumblebee. **I'd just like to know what the danger IS. **He said.

**Sam, please, anger and fear are negative emotions. That makes the danger more likely to happen.** Bumblebee said.

**I'm feeling angry because you're speaking in riddles. **Sam said.

Before Bumblebee could respond, Sam could _feel_ it: a change in the feel of the Essence, something about the energy. It was big. It was oppressive. It was also, Sam could feel, very _angry_.

**Too late! Sam, please try to keep your negative emotions to a minimum. Remember, not all**** of those waiting to leave the Essence have yet to be born or are waiting to enter the Matrix. Some of them are waiting to enter the Pit, and not all of them are happy to be dead!** **We don't want any of them hitching a ride back, or taking one of us over!**

Despite himself, Sam was suddenly very frightened. He had remembered at that moment someone _else_ who had died recently, not long after Jazz had been killed in fact, someone with good reason to hate him, and someone who was _very_ likely to _not_ want to stay dead, and this time, he had no all-powerful cube to destroy him with, and was, in fact, defenceless.

**Sam, stop that, you'll draw them to us like a beacon! **Even Bumblebee's thoughts themselves seemed frightened. **Empty your mind and drift!**

Sam tried to do just that, but he could feel the oppressive atmosphere growing, whoever or whatever it was getting closer.

Something wicked this way comes….

Sam tried to keep a rein on his feelings, concentrating instead on the energy of the Sparks around him, but feeling rather useless. Bumblebee might know the feel of Jazz's Spark, but Sam was just a human, and wouldn't know one Spark from another.

Except……that he knew all too well the feel of the approaching, angry Spark bearing down on their location. It must be, he thought, something to do with his contact with the Cube while he held it in Megatron's chest. It seemed to have forged some sort of connection with him, because he _knew_ that it was Megatron heading for them, and knew he was homing in not just because of his anger and fear, no, that had only alerted him to their presence.

Megatron was using the connection to locate them.

**Sam, I 've found him! **Bumblebee's excited thought distracted Sam.

**Right! Touch him, or whatever you can do here. **Sam said.

**You too! **Bumblebee said, and Sam felt a Spark brush against his consciousness, and mentally took hold of it the same way he seemed to be mentally holding on to Bumblebee.

**Okay, get us out, FAST! **Sam told the Essence as he felt Big Angry hurtling their way.

Perhaps he was imagining it, but as his feelings and sensations fragmented, and went into a dizzying whirl, he thought he felt/heard a scream of pure rage and frustration.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Ratchet stood as he saw Sam twitch. Sam let out a cry as he came to fully, and Ratchet noticed with concern that his heartbeat leaped from about twenty beats a minute to about a hundred, and that his adrenal glands were releasing adrenaline into his system. Sam was either very angry, or very frightened.

There was something else, he noticed, blinking, something abnormal, that hadn't been there before. There, in Sam's chest, he could register a Spark. He databurst for Optimus: something strange was going on, and their Leader should know about it.

Before he could remark upon it, Bumblebee's optics brightened and he tensed, his fingers twitching. For a moment, the human boy got even more scared, until Bumblebee said "Sam, Sam, it's OK, I twitched, I'm sorry. You _know_ I wouldn't hurt you."

"Bumblebee? It is _you_ isn't it? I mean, someone didn't hitch a ride back and take you over?"

"No, Sam, it's me, Bumblebee, although it was a close thing there." The yellow mech stood, and looked at Ratchet.

"Ratchet, please, take us to Jazz." Bumblebee said. Ratchet didn't stop to query it: there was an urgency in Bumblebee's response that he found himself responding to.

He turned, and led the yellow scout, still holding his human charge, down into the main area of the med bay, where Jazz's inert body was still lying. Ratchet turned and scanned the human again in concern: his heart rate was still a bit too fast, and Ratchet was worried about the effect that that Spark's radiation was having on Sam's organic systems, after all, human bodies tended to have a negative reaction to radiation.

Bumblebee carefully tipped Sam onto Jazz's chest, and Sam almost fell onto the silver mech: Ratchet noticed that Sam was sweating. The human spread himself out on the silver mech's chest as Optimus came in. He stopped by Ratchet, so saw, along with Ratchet and Bumblebee, what happened next.

Blue lightning shot out from Sam's body, playing all over Jazz, and a white light seemed to flash where Sam and Jazz's chests touched. Ratchet, who was still scanning, gave a start as his scans registered a surge in all of Jazz's systems. The Spark in Sam's body seemed to have somehow transferred itself to Jazz's Spark-chamber.

Bumblebee bent to scoop up Sam as Jazz's body spasmed, the silver limbs jerking. As Bumblebee stepped back, Jazz's body went quiescent again, although they could all hear a whirr as various systems came alive.

Then, Optimus grasped Ratchet's arm as Jazz's optics under his visor glowed blue, the hue infusing the entire visor with the friendly blue glow they all knew and loved. They all stared as Jazz pushed himself to a sitting position, and smiled at them all.

"Hiya guys." The silver saboteur said, his smile fading as he looked around, a look of confusion replacing his friendly grin. "Where's that overgrown slagger, Megatron? Hey, what'm I doin' on Ratchet's operating table?" He looked at the silent audience.

"What're you all starin' at me for? As the humans would put it, you all look like ya've seen a ghost?"


	9. Chapter 9

Midas Touch.

Epilogue.

Ten days later.

"Okay, Jazz should now not just _look_ fully functional, he should _be_ fully functional." Ratchet said as he finished up microwelding some wires in the silver mech's hips.

"I thought you fixed him up earlier?" Sam asked, looking at the silver mech while still keeping his hands on the energy-collecting device Ratchet had built to help bleed off excess Allspark energy. "Once he's asked what we were staring at, you swore at him and offlined him. Why?"

Sam had, through Bumblebee, been communicating with the Essence, explaining that the collection devices would help with controlling the energy the Essence seemed to generate by merely existing. After a few translation issues – different terms for the same process, for example, and one instance where the human expression was not understood by the Essence – the Essence had realised what Sam and his Autobot friend were trying to explain, and had readily agreed to Ratchet building the units, and Sam discharging into them.

"I didn't swear at _him_, I swore in general, and I fixed him up enough to look good, to seem functional enough above the waist, but I didn't fully repair the systems that I thought wouldn't be needed-like joints and servos." Ratchet told him. "Not only would his legs have been unable to bear weight if he'd tried standing, but he risked overheating, leading to critical systemic cascade failure of his body and processors if he had stayed online for more than fifteen minutes. I had tied off his damaged coolant lines, but not refilled them, not thinking I needed to. Now I've done all those little repairs that seemed pointless to do because I thought he would never function again. _Now_ he can go back online – at least for a bit."

Ratchet re-onlined Jazz, and the silver mech's optics shuttered and unshuttered several times before he looked at Ratchet, Sam, and Bumblebee.

"I've been here before, I've done the 'where's that slagger Megatron' bit, but you offlined me." He was looking at Ratchet. "What was up, wasn't my reaction good enough, d'ya want me to try again? What happened to Optimus Prime?"

"That was ten days ago, Jazz, I'm sorry it took so long to get you back to full functionality again, but I needed to build those collectors for Sam." Ratchet said.

"Ten days? Did that misbegotten Pitspawn of a so-called Lord High Protector frag me up _that_ bad?" he asked. He looked down at one side. "You've done a good job on my paintwork, thanks."

"You could say that." said Sam, unable to hold his tongue anymore. "Jazz, he killed you, you were dead."

"Wha? What' d'ya mean, _dead?_" He stared at his hands and arms. "I've never felt better."

"You were torn in half, Jazz, your Spark chamber was ruptured. You were deSparked, you can't _get _much deader than _that_." Ratchet said. Jazz's optics shuttered and unshuttered once.

"Then how come I'm still here?" he asked. "This ain't the Pit, Bumblebee's too good to end up in the Pit, and it ain't the Matrix cause you're….." he tailed off. "Cos it's not good enough to be the Matrix." He finished.

"You _were_ going to say because _I_ was here, weren't you, Jazz?" Said Ratchet, sounding gruff, but Sam could see the corners of his mouth turning upwards. "Well, you can exercise your sarcasm programming all you like in twelve hours, but first you need a full recharge." said Ratchet. He reached over and re-offlined Jazz before he could pass comment, then stooped to pick him up, cradling the little saboteur in both arms. He strode over to a recharge berth and placed him in it, closing the canopy and turning the dial the whole way.

"Don't worry, in twelve hours' time he'll be back to making mischief again, the cheeky little glitch." Ratchet said. As he turned back to where Sam was still discharging, there was a commotion, as a sheepish-looking Cliffjumper, who was followed by his father's Porsche, who was carefully carrying Ron Witwicky in her hands, came in.

As Sam had suspected, his father had begun looking on the Porsche as a daughter, as far as giving her the name Natalie – the name Sam would had if he'd been born female – and had become rather protective of her. Sam looked at his father, who seemed annoyed, and looked in the direction of his father's scowl. Just what had Cliffjumper done, he wondered, to anger his father?

"Can I help you, Mr Witwicky?" asked Ratchet.

"Can you scan Natalie, and see if I'm understanding correctly what she means by telling me that she's been 'sharing energy' with him? he asked, indicating Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper spread his hands.

"She knew what she was doing, she was agreeable, I asked her to make sure. I wouldn't have if she hadn't known what she was doing or wasn't agreeable, Mr Witwicky, I swear!" said an agitated-sounding Cliffjumper.

Ratchet scanned the Porsche, although Sam had already worked out what he thought had happened. Ratchet scowled, and looked at Cliffjumper, who cringed.

"Natalie, have you shared energy with anyone except Cliffjumper here?" asked Ratchet.

"No, only him." She said in a soft feminine voice. "Why is my human parental unit angry?"

"Did you know what it entailed, what it could lead to?" asked Ratchet.

"Oh yes, and it was as good as the data I was given about it said it should be." Natalie said. Ratchet turned to Ron.

"You've heard her, and you are correct as to it's meaning, but she has been given enough data to enable her to make up her own mind." Ratchet told him.

"It looks like you are about to be come a grandparent. Natalie is carrying."

"What about him?" asked Ron. "Is he going to do the decent thing?" Ron asked.

"I'll help look after her and the Sparkling if that's what you mean." Cliffjumper assured him.

"Dad, I don't think Cybertronians have 'marriage', not as we understand it." said Sam. Ratchet sighed.

"Cliffjumper, take Ron and Natalie up to Optimus, tell him what's happened and ask him to explain Cybertronian relationships to Ron." he said. Cliffjumper beckoned to Natalie, and the two Cybertronians and one human left the room. There was a slight silence after they left, broken by a confused-sounding Bumblebee.

"Why do humans say a mech-human has got a femme-human "into trouble" when it seems to be the mech who gets blamed?"

Sam sighed. "Sit down, Bumblebee, time for you to learn some _human_ history." he said as he took his hands off the energy collector and tried to get his head around the fact he was soon to become an uncle to a Cybertronian, a youngster that was likely to start off being bigger than he was himself. Then he gave a sheepish smile as he remembered how this whole situation had started. Technically, he was already a father to many, including his own non-human sister.

If anyone ever had to draw the Witwicky family tree, to include his non-human relatives would be very, _very_ complicated….


End file.
